Long Time Gone, also..

So, I've had to travel, deal with some school/job issues, and now the lovely snow is falling again and thus I've been removed from my computer a little while. Spring semester is starting back (and yes, the Beowulf/Paradise Lost paper is completed), and I'm going to try and think of at least something to talk about here and post before I go to sleep during the schoolyear. Since I've been helping a friend with her wedding, I'll probably talk a little about that too (No worries, not a Bridezilla at all--which is nice, cause if she was, I wouldn't be painting centerpieces and putting invitations together ;-D). Sure I don't dream of marriage, but I'm happy she found someone special nonetheless.

As for this evening, I decided to engage in some cable tv and against what should have been my better judgment, I watched the 2010 Miss America pageant on TLC...
You know, since my over-the-top girly girl princess aesthetic didn't raise eyebrows over my commitment to feminism (which I am committed to rather strongly), I watch pageants too. Actually, the real reason I watched MA this year was due to the organization's selecting a judge I rather dislike--Rush Limbaugh. And by "dislike," I mean "would not protest to the public execution of." Throughout my childhood, my conservative father tortured me on long car rides with listening to this man who isn't fit to judge (not to invite undo comparisons) livestock. So I was tuning in to see how his participation affected the selection of winners. After an evening of bleach-blonde uber-tanned country girls, I was happy to see that Limbaugh's history of racism did not ultimately effect the winner, 22-year old Caressa Cameron of Arlington, VA--who,by the way, is African-American. Perhaps Rush was stunt by the MA organization to draw in a conservative audience to boost ratings. Whatever, I hope they don't use him again. I appreciate MA as a scholarship program and US tradition, but it does have a lot of problems in terms of relating to modern women with its outdated concepts and bad 80s hair/makeup. Last thing it needs is a judge whose statements toward minorities and women (and women's lib) have been overwhelmingly vile.

Anyway, that was a bit of a segue, sorry for the political dabbling. Tomorrow I've decided to start a book--The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I'd like to do more book/film/tv type reviews on this blog eventually, so I thought it might be fun to start with a vampire novel (a GOOD, reputable vampire novel) since I love supernatural fantasy and I need to branch out from my usual dated selection. I mean, we're not talking Anne Rice, it's more like "Varney the Vampire." Sometimes I forget I'm not really Victorian.

Hopefully the snow will be cleared up a bit tomorrow so I can take a long walk outside and relax. Right now, I think I'll drink some cocoa and go to bed. Tata :-)